34. Harlan

34

HARLAN

"Well, hello there Miss Daphne, how is your auntie feeling'?" Ms. Shaw rushed up and asked Daphne as we walked into City Hall for the small business association meeting.

I was used to going to these solo. Ever since I started Farm Strong, I've been attending the monthly meetings on my own. Usually, I dreaded going to the SBA meetings. They were boring and tedious. I hated hearing people whine about problems and not come up with any solutions. The only upshot was that Mrs. B usually baked her cinnamon rolls. But tonight, I was happy to be here because Daphne and I had come together…as friends. I didn't love that part.

In the past few weeks, we had been relegated to strictly friends with no benefits. Our relationship had gone in reverse. As much as I'd enjoyed the physical part of what we shared, I had to admit that getting to spend time with Daphne and just getting to know her might be even better than the physical. Okay, not better, but it was definitely as good.

Daphne smiled. "She's ready to be home."

"I bet she is. They probably have to tie her to the bed to keep her in there."

Daphne chuckled. "They pretty much do."

It had been three and a half weeks since we found her aunt unconscious on the floor of the barn. In that time, we'd sort of fallen into a routine. Every morning, I ran my classes, and Daphne spent a few hours at the hospital. Then, during the afternoon, she worked on the Moore Farm Moonshine business, while I worked on the farm. In the evenings, we had dinner together and discussed the brand deals and collaborations that Bethany emailed that day and the merch line that I was going to start selling, which included shirts, sweatpants, whistles, hats, and flannels. When Daphne said I was leaving money on the table, she wasn't lying. My projected earnings for this quarter were six times last year's net profit.

"How was the chicken pot pie?" Ms. Shaw asked.

The dinner train had not stopped chugging since Miss Rhonda was admitted to the hospital. There was more food in Daphne's freezer than we could eat.

"Delicious!" Daphne enthused. "Thank you so much!"

"Of course, you just let me know if you need anything." Ms. Shaw took Daphne's hands in hers and patted them. "We're all here to help."

"Thank you." Daphne's smile was tight, and she nodded her head as Ms. Shaw pulled her into a hug.

If I wasn't mistaken, there were tears in Daphne's eyes. I'd witnessed how much it meant to her these past few weeks that the community had rallied around her and her aunt. I understood why, since her childhood, she had been nomadic and lonely. College was the first time she'd been in the same place for two Christmases. Before she graduated college, her mom passed away, and her dad moved overseas.

My heart broke for her. Losing my dad and then Meemaw Mitchell had been hard. Really hard. I hated thinking of the fact that I didn't know how much longer I'd have Grandad. But I had the entire town of Firefly as part of my extended family.

Daphne didn't have that. From what it sounded like, Davina and Lydia were basically her entire support system. She'd dedicated herself completely to work. But Davina and Lydia both had families to go home to. Daphne didn't even have a dog. The memory of her holding Cowboy in her arms popped into my head. I hated knowing that she couldn't even adopt him because her job made it impossible for her to care for him. I hated thinking about her going back to L.A. where no one was taking care of her. No one was there when she had bad days. Or good days, for that matter.

"Daphne!" Cora Clemons, the president of the SBA, waved her hand, motioning for Daphne to come over to her.

Daphne glanced up at me, giving me a quick smile before crossing the room. I watched as she spoke with the mayor and the three council members on the tourism board. I assumed they were picking her brain for marketing tips. Word of her marketing expertise had spread around town.

"Have you given any more thought to my offer?"

I turned and saw Ariana standing beside me.

"Sorry I haven't gotten back to you," I apologized.

Ariana had left me several voicemails, just checking in to see where my head was at, over the past couple of weeks. I'd been hesitant to get back to her because I'd wanted to see if my new manager and the sponsorships and collabs would pan out. So far, things were ahead of projections by forty percent. Even if the workout itself was a fad, which is what I'd always worried about, I had the confidence to trust that I would be able to pivot, especially with the help of Daphne. Who was my ‘friend.'

"I wanted to be sure of where I was at before speaking to you so I would have a definite answer."

A soft sigh fell from her lips. "I have a feeling I'm not going to like that definite answer."

"Right now, I'm not looking to sell." I still wasn't sure why she wanted to buy my property, but I'd heard that she'd made offers on several other pieces of land on the island as well.

"If it's the offer itself, that is negotiable."

"The offer is generous. More than generous. But I want to keep the farm in the family."

"If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

As she walked away, Daphne was walking toward me.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, fine."

She nodded and glanced back in Ariana's direction.

"She's really pretty."

Not as pretty as you , I thought, but I didn't say it out loud because we were friends, and that's not something a friend would say.

"She is," I agreed.

Daphne's lips pursed, and there was a fire in her eyes that wasn't there a second ago. If I didn't know any better, I would swear she was jealous. It was the same look I'd seen her have when she'd taken my class about a week ago. I'd seen her look at several females with a not-so-happy expression. I told myself that it was just in my head, wishful thinking that she would even care if other women were flirting with me. If she did, then why didn't she want anyone to know that we'd hooked up, and why had she insisted that we take a step back when she friend-zoned me?

Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that she didn't like the fact that Ariana and I were talking or that women flirted with me during my class.

We made our way to our seats, and as soon as we sat down, she casually asked, "Do you think you're going to go out with her again?"

"I don't know," I lied.

It might not be the nicest thing to do, but I wanted to see this through and find out if I had been delusional or if her feelings for me were more than she was admitting to.

Her entire body tensed at my response. For the remainder of the meeting, she barely acknowledged my presence. I'd made a few comments to her under my breath, funny comments, and all I got was a tight-lipped grin.

She was upset. Mad even. As bad as I felt for fucking with her, I had to admit I liked the fact that she'd had some sort of reaction.

Once the meeting was over, we all filed out, saying our goodbyes. Normally, I slipped out the back after grabbing my cinnamon roll, but tonight, we were stopped by at least a dozen people asking about Miss Rhonda. Daphne took the time to answer everyone's questions, even though she didn't have a ton of answers.

We were silent the entire way home, and when we pulled up to the Moore farmhouse before the truck even came to a stop, she was reaching for the handle.

"Thanks for the ride," she said as she opened the door.

"Hey," I placed my hand on her thigh, and she stilled and looked over at me. "Are you okay? You've seemed upset ever since you saw me talking to Ariana."

"No. What? No. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" I questioned.

"Yes, I just… I have a lot on my mind."

"Your aunt?"

"Aunt Rhonda is coming home Friday, and after that, I'm leaving. I'm going home," she blurted out.

Her statement hit me like a punch in the gut. She was leaving. She wasn't going to be right next door. I wasn't going to be able to see her every day. To check on her. To make sure she was okay.

My reaction must have shown on my face because she asked, "What? What's wrong?"

"I just…I hate the thought of you being across the country. I just don't like the thought of no one being there if you need someone, or even just have a bad day."

"I'm fine. I'm used to being on my own." I could see the walls that had been down for the past three and a half weeks go right back up. "Thanks for the ride."

I watched as she walked up the steps, and my chest ached. She might be used to being on her own, but she didn't need to be. Not anymore. I just didn't understand how she couldn't see that.